1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to shipping canals and more particularly to a floating canal system that can be used to create a shipping canal in waters that tend to freeze.
2. Description of the Problem
Scientists agree that arctic ice is melting probably because of global warming. Arctic ice is expected to recede enough that it may be possible within the next 100 years to create a shipping canal across the infamous northwest passage that runs typically from the Atlantic Ocean up the coast of Greenland, between the northern islands of Canada, and out along the northern Canadian cost to the Bearing Straits and into the Pacific Ocean. The number of nautical miles between Asia and Europe going through the Panama Canal is around 12,600, while it is only 7,900 miles along the Northwest Passage. The Northwest Passage route is also around 5000 miles shorter than a proposed new canal across Nicaragua.
However, fifty to one hundred years is a long time, and the world needs a new ocean-to-ocean shipping route much sooner than that. One reason for this is that the present Panama Canal is too narrow to handle many modern ships. Panama has engaged in some activities and contracts to widen the Panama Canal; however, this may or may not happen very soon. In any case, it will be a very expensive and prolonged project, as would be a canal across Nicaragua. What is badly needed is a system that would allow opening of the Northwest Passage immediately that could be implemented with minimal costs.